Still Falls the Rain
by Chikita89
Summary: "Super extreme all inclusive obstacle hockey!"  A week of rain, an impromptu game of hockey and a sick band member.
1. Chapter 1

Kendall Knight stared out the window of his Palmwoods apartment that he shared with his mom, sister and three best friends. It had been raining for almost a week now and cabin fever was definitely setting in. Three days into being apartment-bound, video games had lost their appeal and by now the boys would have even welcomed an intense dance class or a long, tiring recording session, anything to break up their increasingly monotonous days. Unfortunately for them, Rocque Records had flooded two days into the rain and Gustavo had been forced to give them the rest of the week off. As boredom entrenched itself on the group, small personality quirks were emerging, and in the limited space shared by the four stir-crazy teenage boys, they were proving to become major annoyances.

Kendall surveyed the room. Logan, the smart one of the group, was holed up in the corner of the room with his laptop, no doubt studying or at the very least reading something educational. He seemed to be taking their forced imprisonment the best of all of them. Having caught up on his homework (and, under protest, everyone else's) on day one, he was now taking the opportunity to get a head start on his future career of being a doctor. However, apparently inspired by the weather, he had taken a break to discover some facts about the rain.

"Did you know heavy rain is classified as being more then 0.30 inches of rain an hour? And rain drops can fall at speeds of about 22 miles an hour!"

"Did you know how much we DON'T care?" James replied, throwing a cushion at Logan, before returning to his mirror.

"All I know is this weather is terrible for my complexion! How am I supposed to maintain a healthy glow without my standard four hours of sunbaking each day? Look at me! I'm practically translucent!" Kendall rolled his eyes at his vain friend, making note to dispose of any fake tan remaining in the house before James got desperate and they had another Hollywood Fever incident on their hands.

"Well do you know how much WE don't care about THAT" Logan practically spat back, sinking back down behind his computer screen. It was at that moment that Kendall realised something was off. It was too quiet. Once his friends had stopped bickering, the only sound he could hear was the gentle electrical hum coming from Logan's corner and the rain slamming against the windows. He couldn't hear Carlos.

Of the four of them, Carlos had reacted worst to their current situation. He was a ball of energy and being confined to a small space was his worst nightmare. He had managed to keep himself and the others entertained for awhile by creating games, such as using (with limited success) the lounge as a launching pad in the hopes of discovering if any of them could jump straight to the top of the indoor slide (thus, in Carlos's way of reasoning, saving the climb), or who could shove the most marshmallows in their mouth at once and still take a sip of soda without choking (Logan, surprisingly). Once he had exhausted everybody else, including Kendall's ten year old sister Katie, he had resorted to bouncing off the walls. Literally. Timing this particular game for when Mrs Knight and Katie had left to get groceries, he had strapped pillows to his stomach and back, donned his ever present helmet, and hurled himself from wall to wall in the hope of seeing how far he could rebound off each. This had lasted at least an hour and a half and was accompanied by squeals of delight, yells of annoyance, and the smashing of everything from bowls to photo frames. Only now there was silence, and Carlos was nowhere to be found. In Kendall's experience, that rarely ended well.

Before Kendall could say anything to the other two, he heard a shriek as Carlos hurtled out of his room on some pink rollerblades obviously belonging to Katie straight into James, who happened to be holding a glass of soda which was knocked out of his hand and onto Logan's computer, resulting in sparks, smoke, and a very angry future doctor. Picking up the cushion he had been sitting on, Logan whacked James over the head. He fell into Carlos, who fell to floor and somehow dragged the other two down with him. The three of them kicked and yelled as hair was pulled and clothes were ripped. Watching the scene in front of him unfold, Kendall had had enough. He stood up on the nearest table and whistled shrilly, stopping the fight in its tracks. Raising his right hand, he declared,

"We have been stuck in the apartment long enough! I say we need to get out and make our own fun! If we stay here any longer we're going to tear each other and the apartment apart! We're supposed to be on holidays and having fun, not trying to kill each other! Now let's go and enjoy our week off! Who's with me?" The other three boys looked warily at each other, before breaking into grins and running at Kendall, tackling him off the table. He smiled to himself. This was what he loved about his friends. No matter what had just happened, they could always forgive and forget in the name of having fun. Logan glanced over at his smoking laptop and sighed.

"I've gotta get myself new friends."

Well, almost always.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 is up! I wanted to put it up quickly because this is where the story starts to develop a bit more! Enjoy!_

With a newfound enthusiasm, the boys went bounding out the door, hockey sticks in hand, and into the pouring rain. They paused, breathing in the fresh air and taking in the space and freedom they had been craving for the last week. The moment of serenity was quickly broken, as Carlos dropped the hockey puck and yelled out to the rest of them through the rain.

"Super extreme all inclusive obstacle hockey!"

This was a game they had started playing when they first came to LA and realised their opportunities to play ice hockey would be much more limited than they had been in Minnesota. Never ones to back down from a challenge, they had invented the Palmwoods version of their favourite game, which basically involved two versus two attempting to get the puck from one end of the hotel to the other, including through the park, around anyone who got in their way, through the pool area and back into the lobby. It had been met with disdain from Mr Bitters, the manager at Palmwoods, and subsequently band more than once. However today, due to the rain and unseasonably cold temperature, no one was braving the outdoors except them and they had free reign. Their game lasted a good hour, all four of them revelling at being able to run around after so long cooped up.

"I'm open!" James screamed to Carlos during a particularly competitive match, darting through trees and making his way towards the pool gate. Carlos, underestimating his own strength, hit the puck as hard as he could and watched as it sailed past James's head and straight into the deep end of the pool.

"Uh oh…" he muttered, splashing through mud and puddles towards the pool. Kendall and Logan quickly followed.

"What are we gonna do now?" James asked. It was obvious that none of them wanted to dive into the water despite already being soaked from the rain. The pool was solar heated and as a result of the weather was now near freezing. Unfortunately Bitters had warned them that if he found evidence of them playing hockey through the hotel grounds one more time the consequences would be severe, and leaving the puck where it was seemed like a pretty telltale sign.

"James should go in; he's the one that missed it!" Logan suggested, obviously still not having entirely forgiven James for the demise of his computer.

"No way! Carlos was the one who hit it!" James retorted.

"Well Kendall's the one who wanted to come out here in the first place!" said Carlos.

"I didn't see you complaining! Anyway, this is getting us nowhere. Paper scissors rock, loser goes in." Kendall, always the voice of reason, soon regretted his suggestion. Three knock out rounds later, he found himself being forcibly pushed towards the edge of the pool, ready to go in.

The water was icy cold and for a moment his breath was taken from him. As his body slowly started to adjust to the temperature, he dove under for the puck. Coming up empty handed twice, on his third attempt he finally forced his shaking hand around the puck and brought it up with him, gasping. As he pulled himself out of the freezing water, he realised with a groan that they didn't have any towels. He sincerely hoped Bitters hadn't returned to the lobby; he hadn't been there when they had come down. Kendall didn't think he would appreciate them running through his hotel soaking wet.

"You ok man?" Logan's voice broke through his thoughts. It was then that Kendall realised he was shivering uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to create some heat, and forced a smile.

"Yeh, totally fine. We should probably g-go upstairs and d-dry off."

"That was the BEST idea you've ever had" Carlos said, an hour later. All of them felt much more relaxed having been out of the apartment and outside, and they had been lucky that neither Bitters nor Mrs Knight were anywhere to be seen as they made their way back to the room. In fact, they had time to shower and discard of their wet and muddy clothes before she returned from the shops. Kendall for one was grateful. He didn't think his mom would react well if she knew how they had spent their day, and he definitely wasn't in the mood for an argument. He had felt kind of weird since they had come back. He didn't feel sick exactly, he just felt like he couldn't warm up. Even after a hot shower and meal he still felt shivery. He didn't want to worry anyone though, and he knew at the first sign of weakness both Logan and him mum would pounce, so he didn't say anything as he settled on the couch to watch a movie with everyone before bed.

The next morning Kendall woke up early. The house was silent, and he wondered what had woken him. The he realised his throat was aching painfully. When he sat up he became aware of how dead tired he still felt. Despite this, he quietly crept out the room he shared with James in search of a glass of water. Outside, it was still overcast but the rain had abated and was now just a drizzle. They would probably be required back at the studio sometime in the next few days and despite the fact he would have done anything to leave the apartment the last few days, the way he felt now Kendall was happy to have at least one more day to just stay inside and do nothing. He felt really hot and realised he was probably running a fever so he put his head on the cool table for a moment. That was how Carlos found him a couple of hours later when he came down for breakfast.

Carlos had thought he must be the first one awake. The house was silent and as they had stayed up late watching movies last night he assumed everyone would be sleeping in. He was very surprised then to find Kendall fast asleep at the kitchen table. He wasn't sure whether he should wake him or not, but Kendall stirred anyway at the sound of his footsteps.

"Oh hey" he said. His voice sounded raspy but he didn't think it was betraying him too much, considering how bad he had started feeling.

"What are you doing out here?" Carlos asked. "Did you sneak out for a midnight snack? Dude you should have woken me! I totally would have been in on that!"

"Carlos, we didn't go to bed until after midnight last night anyway, so it wouldn't have been a midnight snack. I just came down for a glass of water a few minutes ago and I guess I dozed off." Well, it was half true. Kendall was thankful it was Carlos who had found him like this and not Logan or even James, as he was sure they would have questioned him. Happy-go-lucky Carlos was now pouring himself cereal into a huge mixing bowl and seemed to have forgotten the conversation already.

Eventually everybody else got up, and by that time Kendall had already showered and dressed. He really didn't want his mum to start fussing over him and babying him, so he had to try and act like he was fine. In reality, the shower had made him feel worse if anything. Now he felt hot again, and kind of clammy. His throat was so sore he could hardly swallow, but it was more of an ache than a sharp pain. He thought he may have caught the flu, probably from diving in the freezing water the day before. His plan for the rest of the day was just to take it easy, maybe sleep (why was he so unbelievably tired?) and try and get over whatever stupid virus he had caught before they had to be back in the studio. Those plans were ruined by a phone call from Kelly saying the flooded studio had been cleaned up and they were expected in this afternoon. Although they were happy to finally be doing something and getting back into a routine, the boys all knew they would be working twice as hard as usual to try and make up for the week they had just had off.

"I bet Gustavo makes us pull an all nighter" said James, groaning. "Do you realise we have to have THREE songs recorded by the end of the week AND learn dance routines for two." Griffin had told the boys two weeks ago he wanted three new songs, two of them with film clips, by the end of the month. They would have had plenty of time if not for the forced week off, and now they would have to put in a lot of hours in a short amount of time to try and make the deadline. Just the thought of the amount of work they had to do made Kendall feel tired. He really didn't know how he was going to get through today.


	3. Chapter 3

_Next chapter… it's a bit shorter sorry! The next one should be longer. Enjoy!_

The drive to the studio was torture for Kendall. Due to the weather still being quite cold, the driver of the limo that had been sent to pick them up decided they needed the heater up full blast. This didn't seem to bother any of the others as they chatted away animatedly. Kendall put his head against the cool window, too tired to remove his jacket even though he could feel himself sweating. He closed his eyes, feeling vaguely like he may throw up. He didn't even realise he had fallen asleep until he was being shaken awake.

"Kendall… We're at the studio" James was gently shaking him and as he focused he became aware of everyone's concerned eyes on him.

"Do you feel ok? You don't look very well." Logan was going into doctor mode. He reached out to feel Kendall's forehead, but his hand was waved away.

"I'm just tired! I didn't sleep well last night." With some effort, he smiled at his friends sceptical faces. "Seriously! Don't worry about me." They continued to look at him as if he may break but said nothing more.

Gustavo was in a surprisingly good mood when they got inside. He had used the time off to complete two of the three songs they required.

"Dogs! I want you to look over these songs. LEARN them!"

"These are really good!" Logan commented as he read over the lyrics of their new

songs. James nodded in agreement, and Carlos ran up to Gustavo for a hi-five.

"I KNOW their good" he yelled, slapping away Carlos's hand. "That's why I wrote them! All YOU have to do is sing them without screwing up too much."

"What's wrong with you?" He rounded on Kendall, who had just slumped against the wall. "I don't have time for sick animals!"

"I'm just tired" Kendall replied, finding the energy to stand up unaided.

"I DON'T CARE" Gustavo shouted, apparently losing the small amount of composure he had when they had first arrived. Being in a room with the boys did that.

"All of you, dance lesson, NOW! I'll be in here, creating!" Kelly looked over angrily at him. She was constantly telling him he needed to be nicer to the boys, but he insisted without the proper discipline his 'dogs' would not perform. She followed the boys into the next room where Mr X was waiting for them. By this point Kendall could hardly stand up. He couldn't remember ever feeling this tired before, and his throat was killing him. Despite this, he smiled as Logan glanced at him, well aware he was watching him.

"Are we gonna dance or what?"

Two hours later the boys were finally given a break. They all slumped down on the nearest couch, exhausted.

"Even my hair hurts" James complained. "And that can't be good for it! Oh God! What if it's gone limp!" He pulled out his mirror and his lucky comb, and after a few seconds of backcombing, flashed himself a dazzling smile.

"At least we're doing something" Logan pointed out. "But I've had enough of doing something for now." Listening to their conversation, Kelly glanced at her watch.

"Alright that's enough for tonight, there's a limo out the front waiting to take you

back to the Palmwoods" She smiled as they gave her a weak thumbs up.

"WHAT?" Gustavo had apparently finished writing for tonight. "We've got three songs to record! The dogs…" Kelly had turned and glared at him again. This time he relented "The dogs will be back here first thing tomorrow. GOT IT?"

"Got what?" Carlos asked, and was quickly ushered out by Logan before Gustavo had a chance to react. Kendall, who hadn't said a word through this whole exchange, followed his friends out, crawled into the limo, and fell asleep straight away.

He woke up to a cool hand on his forehead. This time he didn't even have the energy to push it away, nor to keep denying he was sick.

"Kendall! You're burning up" Logan bit his lip as he spoke, concerned for his friend.

"How long have you been feeling like this? Since we made you jump in the pool?" realisation hit him as he spoke.

"Just since this morning" Kendall finally spoke. "It's nothing, really." He sneezed. "It's just a cold or something."

"Come on, lets get inside" said James, climbing out first. The others followed, Kendall wondering how he was going to handle his mom. She had a field day when one of them was sick.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't feel well? Can someone bring me a thermometer please? If you still have a fever tomorrow we're going to the doctor. Are you comfortable?" Mrs Knight was tucking Kendall into bed, reacting exactly the way he thought she would. He would be rolling his eyes right about now if he didn't feel so sick. His mum shoved some sickly sweet pink medicine down his throat and waited for him to swallow before she took his temperature. The only problem for Kendall was his throat hurt so much it took him a couple of minutes to swallow all the medicine. Finally, Mrs Knight was able put the thermometer in his mouth.

"102! My poor baby! Try to get some sleep" she kissed his forehead and turned off the light. He had seen his friends glance worriedly at each other when she read out the numbers. They were probably wondering how they were going to finish their songs in time with Kendall this sick. He was hoping the medicine a good nights sleep would do the job and he would be feeling better tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter feels like a bit of a nothing chapter… I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with this story. Sorry it's so short; I promise the next one will be longer. Hope you enjoy it anyway!_

The next morning when Kendall woke up, the house was eerily quiet. Not the kind of quiet where everyone else is still asleep, more the kind of quiet that makes you feel completely alone, and very vulnerable. He was confused, and let out a small whimper as he sat up. His head was killing him, and his throat was worse than it had been the day before. He massaged his neck to try and relieve the pain, but it felt swollen and hurt even more when he touched it. Finally he decided to try and get up, something that would be made difficult by the dizziness and general fatigue.

Katie and Mrs Knight were at the kitchen table, talking quietly. As Kendall stumbled out of his room, his mom ran over to him and helped him to the lounge, helping him lie back before resting her hand on his forehead.

"Katie, can you get me the thermometer" she asked, turning back to Kendall. He was gazing up at her with glassy eyes, his cheeks tinged pink from fever.

"Where is everybody?"

"Sweetie, they all went into the studio. Kelly called though and said to take as long as you needed to get well and they would work something out with the songs. Your health is the most important thing."

Kendall was willing to bet Gustavo didn't have a lot to do with that phone call, but that wasn't what was bothering him. He knew they were on a deadline, but would they record without him if that was the only option? He wanted to ask his mom what else had been said but even as he was thinking it his eyes were closing and he drifted off into oblivion.

"I think I'm going to take him to the doctor when he wakes up. He doesn't seem to be improving he can barely keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time."

Kendall kept his eyes shut tight as he listened to him mom whisper, obviously trying not to wake him. He was freezing, and pulled the blanket someone had thrown over him tighter around his body. His mom's voice was joined by that of his friends, who had returned from the studio. In his daze, he couldn't make out whose whispering voice was whose.

"We'll stay here with Katie Mrs Knight, he really looks like he needs to be checked over."

"Hopefully they can give him something for the fever and maybe he'll be well enough to come in later in the week and record."

Just then Kendall started coughing, alerting everyone to the fact that he was now awake. He felt awkward with everyone's eyes on him, and even more awkward about the fact his friends were actually sitting quietly and speaking in whispered voices. It was strange not seeing them running, jumping, bouncing and yelling.

"How do you feel?" asked James, his eyes wide as he took in Kendall's dishevelled appearance.

"Not great" Kendall replied, not bothering to sugar coat it.

"Well, we've got an extension on our songs, Gustavo spoke to Griffin and he's given us an extra week so you should be ok to come back in by then and record your parts. He also agreed to make one of the videos out of clips we're recorded of ourselves goofing around" Logan told him, then paused. "Well, the video clip thing was actually my idea. We didn't know when you would be up to dancing and stuff again and we told Gustavo there was no way we were doing anything without you, deadline or no deadline." He smiled, looking pretty proud of himself. Kendall smiled back. He really did have the best friends ever. His mom walked over to him with some clothes she had retrieved from his room.

"I want you to get dressed so I can take you to the doctor." He groaned, but knew he had no choice. Just then Carlos, who had obviously been trying very hard to stay quiet so as not to disturb his sick friend, spoke up.

"If they give you a lollipop can you get one for me? Just tell them you lost your first one or something. I'll take the purple one if they've got it, grape flavour. If not, red is fine." Logan slapped him across the back of the head, but Kendall laughed. He was glad Carlos was still acting relatively normal. It had been creeping him out to see his friends so quiet and worried. After all, it was just a cold. Truth be told, he didn't like his friends and family worrying about him because it was HIS job to worry about them. He was the one who looked out for everyone and made sure they were ok, and it was making him feel uncomfortable to have them all so concerned about him.

"Come on honey, lets get going" his mom said gently, breaking his train of thought. With more effort than it should have taken, he pulled his hoodie over his head. He was shivering, and as he stood up he broke into a harsh coughing fit. When it was over, his mom put her hand on his shoulder and directed him towards the door. Leaning his head against the car door, he was asleep before hi mom had even started the ignition.


	5. Chapter 5

_This chapter was written really quick… I just had some inspiration! It's longer than the last one as promised,, and I feel like the story may be going somewhere now, at least more so than in the last chapter. Let me know what you think!_

Kendall felt about five years old, resting his head on his moms shoulder as she spoke to the doctor. He struggled to stay awake and answer the doctor's questions, wishing he was just back in his own bed. Scratch that, wishing he was well again and was hanging out with his friends. He lifted his head as the doctor spoke again.

"It's possible that you may have contracted mononucleosis, but we won't know for sure until you take a blood test. However-"

"You think I have MONO" Kendall exclaimed as loud as his aching throat would allow. "As in, the kissing disease?" The doctor smiled slightly at his reaction.

"Yes, it can be referred to as the kissing disease, but there are a number of ways it can be contracted." Try telling your healthy girlfriend that, Kendall thought. Jo would kill him if she thought he had caught mono off another girl. "Your symptoms could be caused by something else, but I would like to test you for mono just in case, as it can have serious complications." Kendall wasn't really listening. All he knew was when one of the guys back home had caught mono he had been off school for over a month. What would happen with the band if he was too sick to record? He knew deep down he was jumping to conclusions, but right now he didn't care. He was sick and tired and uncomfortably hot. He broke into another painful coughing fit that sapped him of what little energy he had left, and when it finally stopped he went back to resting his head on his moms shoulder as she rubbed his back with the palm of her hand. Any other time he would have been beyond embarrassed, but the fever made him feel clingy and he was comforted by her concern.

"As I was saying" the doctor continued "it looks like you've also caught the flu, which could be a result of a weakened immune system from mono, or could be the cause of your symptoms. The main thing I'm concerned about is the fatigue. Have you been feeling overly tired for awhile now?" Kendall nearly laughed out loud. Of course he had been tired, but they had been working hard the last few weeks, and everyone had spent their week off catching up on sleep so he hadn't really noticed if he was sleeping more than usual. As for the flu, well he thought he could trace that back to their game in the rain and his impromptu swim. Not that he was going to let him mom know about that. He may feel like crap at the moment, but he didn't have a death wish.

"Um, not anymore than usual" Kendall answered the doctor truthfully. He just wanted to get out of here now.

"Well, that's a good sign" the doctor smiled at him. "It could just be a bad case of the flu. I'm going to write you a prescription that I want you to start taking as soon as you get home, and I'm going to do that blood test. I'll let you know the results as soon as possible." Kendall sighed. He had been hoping the blood test would be forgotten about. He hated needles, something he was quite ashamed of and hardly anybody knew. His mom, being one of the few people who were fully aware of his phobia, grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Just breathe honey, and it will all be over and then we can go home and get you back into bed."

Kendall slept the whole way home, not even stirring when his mom ran into the pharmacy to pick up the prescription the doctor had written for him. Back at the apartment, Kendall was met by three anxious friends. They had enough sense to let him get into bed and allow Mrs Knight to tuck him in, administer him his medicine and leave the room before they started asking questions. Logan was the first to speak, showing off the future doctor in him.

"Did the doctor provide you with an accurate diagnosis based on your symptoms?" James looked over and rolled his eyes at Logan

"Well the doctor said I have the flu" Kendall looked down as he spoke.

"Well that's not too bad" said James. "I mean it sucks, but you'll be better in a couple of days, right? Then you can come and finish the recordings and keep my dream alive!" Now it was Kendall's turn to roll his eyes, before speaking again.

"He also said its possible I may have mono, just because I've been so tired. I had to take a blood test and he's gonna let me know the results." Logan looked concerned at the news, but James nearly fell of his chair laughing.

"You got the kissing disease! Oh god, Jo's gonna kill you when she finds out." Kendall glared at him, but he kept laughing until Logan spoke up.

"James you do realise if he has mono, he could be sick for a long time. Longer than a week. Which means longer than the deadline we have to finish the record." James stopped laughing immediately. Kendall looked like he was about to cry, although that could have just been from the fever.

"I won't say anything to Jo until you find out for sure. And you don't need to worry about Gustavo. We'll handle him. There's no way we would do anything without you." James promised. Kendall knew how much this meant coming from James, who would do almost anything to make this band successful. Success at the expense of the health of one of his friends was where he drew the line. "I bet you don't have mono anyway. It's probably just the flu. We DID make you dive into that freezing water." James looked like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone, and he was feeling kind of bad about his initial reaction to the news. Kendall was just glad he had stopped laughing. He was tired again, and could feel his eyes closing as his friends continued talking quietly. Before he dozed off, he glanced over at Carlos, who hadn't said a word since he had walked in the door. Kendall hoped he wasn't feeling guilty about making him dive in the pool. Carlos didn't deal very well with emotions like guilt or anger. He pretty much ran on positive energy.

"You ok man?" Kendall asked. Carlos nodded, but still looked like something was bothering him. Kendall was too tired to pry anymore, so he simply shrugged and closed his eyes.

"You didn't get a lollipop!" Carlos finally spat out. Kendall laughed as he drifted off to sleep again.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated for such a long time. I've been ridiculously busy with work and then I got sick, but enough with excuses! I had major writers block tonight (although after writing this chapter I think I know where this story is going now) but I just really wanted to get SOMETHING done that I could post. So I hope you enjoy and I'll try and update really soon!_

Kendall stirred slightly, leaning into the cool touch of someone's hand on his burning forehead. He had become aware of how hot the room suddenly seemed and he tried weakly to push his blankets off. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted by his mother's concerned face.

"How do you feel sweetie?" she asked, running her hand through his hair.

"Tired" he replied, coughing. He saw his mom frown slightly as she tried to pull his blankets up around his chest. Kendall kicked them straight back off.

"It's too hot" he whined. His mom's expression softened as she pulled them up again. She knew how sick he must be feeling; Kendall wasn't normally one to complain.

"I know you're uncomfortable, but you still have a high fever. I just need you to take some medicine and then you can go back to sleep." He sat up as she held out a glass of water and two pills, which he took without complaint. He meant to ask her where his friends were but as soon as his head was back on the pillow he was fast asleep.

When he woke up much later he felt achy and disorientated, but better than he had that morning. The room was dimly lit from the slits of light coming from the gaps in his blinds. He guessed it was late afternoon. As he contemplated whether he had the energy to get out of bed, he wondered what had woken him in the first place. His answer came in the form of a crash that sounded suspiciously like someone being tackled off the lounge, followed by Logan's whispered chastising.

"You'll wake Kendall!"

James didn't bother whispering in reply. "I was nearly done anyway! He pulled my controller out on purpose so I wouldn't beat his high score! And maybe we should wake Kendall anyway. He's been asleep for ages and I'm bored." Kendall pulled himself out of bed and into the lounge room just in time to see Logan roll his eyes at James. He was standing between James and Carlos, presumably to prevent any further acts of video game related violence. Kendall stood in the doorway watching, his quilt wrapped around his shoulders, until his friends finally noticed he was awake.

"Kendall!" Carlos squealed, running to stand behind him as James continued to glare.

'What's going on?" Kendal asked, wincing at how hoarse his voice sounded.

"WELL!" James began, apparently prepared to allow Kendall to mediate his and Carlos's dispute no matter how sick he was. Logan interrupted him while simultaneously ushering Kendall over to the lounge.

"Your mom and Katie went to the shops, they'll be back in a couple of hours. We were just going to make something to eat if you're hungry." Kendall actually was hungry, but he wasn't sure if his swollen throat would allow him to eat anything substantial.

"Maybe I'll just make some soup" he replied, attempting to stand up. A wave of dizziness overcame him and he fell back. All three of his friends ran over to him, any disagreements now forgotten.

"I'm ok" he told them, slightly overwhelmed by the attention. "I just stood up too quickly." None of his friends looked especially convinced, but they didn't say anything more. Logan broke the silence.

"What kind of soup do you feel like?"

"Whatever's on offer" Kendall replied, shivering and wrapping his quilt tighter around himself.

"I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and an apple juice thanks Logan" Carlos said seriously.

"I'll have a steak, medium rare."

"James, I'm not cooking you steak."

"Fine, I'll just starve then." Logan didn't bother answering, but got out enough ingredients for three grilled cheese sandwiches. While their food cooked, Kendall asked about their day. He felt like he was missing out on so much, when in reality he had only been out of action for two days. The recording process was still on hold for the moment, but Kendall knew that couldn't last much longer. He was just hoping he could recover before it became too much of an issue.

"So after they finally caught the squirrel, Bitters told us to get out of his sight for the rest of the day!" Carlos proudly finished his story. Kendall realised he had zoned out, but he just smiled and nodded at Carlos who seemed to accept his lack of enthusiasm as tiredness. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"That's probably Jo" said Logan brightly, before realising what he was saying and turning sheepishly to Kendall.

"Why would Jo be here?" Kendall asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"I might have accidently kind of maybe told Camille you might have been a little sick and I could have said something about mono and she might have possibly said something to Jo who might want to talk to you." He said all this very quickly, before turning on his heels to answer the door. Despite his apprehension, Kendall couldn't help being a little excited at the prospect of seeing Jo. He really did miss her when they were apart for so long. He just hoped she had come out of concern and sympathy, not suspicion.


	7. Chapter 7

_Just a short little Kendall/Jo chapter because I needed something cute to make me happy! Hope you like it, I'll get back to the main storyline in the next chapter!_

Jo stood in the doorway of the apartment as Logan opened the door, waiting to be invited in. Logan was starting to feel bad about inviting Jo over. After all, Kendall had specifically asked him not to, and his friend was pretty sick right now. He probably didn't need any sort of confrontation with his girlfriend. On the other hand, Jo could really cheer Kendall up. Logan was just hoping for the right result.

"B-e n-i-c-e" he mouthed to Jo as she made to walk past him and over to Kendall, who was still wrapped in his quilt and lying down in the lounge room. Jo just smiled at Logan, not giving any indication of what she was thinking.

"Jo!" Carlos squealed, oblivious to the tension in the room. He held out the controller James had previously been playing with.

"Do you want a turn? James wont play with me anymore."

"That's because you cheat!" James exclaimed, starting towards Carlos. Logan realised the potential for more video game related violence and attempted to usher both James and Carlos out of the room to give Kendall and Jo some privacy.

"Come on guys, lets go down to the pool."

"No way! I haven't even eaten yet!" Carlos sulked.

"You have no tact Carlos! Can't you see the two lovebirds want some privacy."

"James!" Kendall finally spoke up, redness unrelated to the fever appearing on his cheeks.

"We'll just go up to the bedroom." He rolled his eyes as his friends wolf whistled at him and Jo. He took Jo's hand, holding the quilt tightly around his shivering body with his other hand, and led her to his shared room. They sat on the bed and he looked at her, waiting to hear what she had heard and what she had to say about it.

"I'm really angry at you" she began, arms crossed as she sat on the edge of his bed. Kendall didn't say anything. He didn't have the energy to try and reason with her. He would let her say whatever she wanted, and hopefully sort everything out when he was feeling better.

"I'm angry at you" she repeated when he didn't reply. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick? I thought you were avoiding me or something."

"Sorry" he said, noticing her frown when she heard how painful talking sounded for him. "I just didn't want you to see me all… I dunno, weak and stuff. Then the doctor said I might have mono and I thought you might have thought I caught it off someone else. I didn't want you to be mad at me." She ran her fingers through his blonde hair.

"You're so silly. You don't always have to be the one protecting everyone. It's ok that sometimes you need people to look after you. And I know there are lots of ways you could have gotten sick. I trust you." She paused. "You haven't been kissing other girls have you?" Kendall almost laughed.

"Of course not! I can't even think about other girls. I love you." Her eyes widened.

"What did you say?"

"I um" suddenly he didn't seem so sure of himself, her reaction not the one he had hoped for. Maybe he could just blame the fever. The seconds seemed like hours and he tried to think of something to say, anything to break the awkward moment he had created.

"I love you too" she whispered, looking away as she said it. He pulled her down next to him on the bed, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his laboured breathing, and they fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

_Last chapter! It's a little rushed, but I never intended my first story to be this long! I've tried to tie it all together, hopefully you enjoy. Thankyou so much for all the reviews and encouragement, I will definitely be starting another story as soon as possible!_

The front door slammed, and Kendall groggily opened his eyes as his friends voices floated through the apartment.

"I can't believe this! It's so unfair."

"We did the right thing."

"I know we did, but it still sucks."

"We don't know anything for sure yet! Just be quiet and don't say anything to Kendall yet."

At the sound of his name, Kendall sat up, momentarily regretting it as his vision swam. His friends sounded anxious and angry. Since his conversation with Jo the day before, he had been feeling happier than he had since he first got sick. The tone of his friends voices, however, made his stomach drop. He briefly contemplated pretending that he hadn't overheard them, and remaining blissfully unaware of whatever issue was worrying them. It only took a few seconds for curiosity to get the better of him and he made his way to the kitchen.

"Kendall!" Logan greeted him with much more enthusiasm than normal, a huge, fake smile plastered on his face.

"I already overheard your conversation" Kendall answered, cutting right to the chase. "Who's gonna tell me what's going on?" Logan glared over at James, obviously blaming him for Kendall overhearing their conversation. James sighed.

"He was going to find out eventually."

"Find out what?" Kendall asked, making his way over the couch where he could put his head down. He was getting so fed up with having no energy. James and Logan stared at each other, neither wanting to break the news to Kendall. Finally Carlos spoke up quietly.

"Griffin came into the studio today. He said they need to know now when you'll be well enough to record. He also said if it turns out you do have mono and you're going to be out of action indefinitely he's…" Carlos stared out the window before he started speaking again.

"He's going to replace you, at least on this album. Which would mean you wouldn't be a part of the upcoming tour either." Kendall's whole body went cold, and he didn't think it had anything to do with the fever. He felt the same way as he had the time he had been smacked backwards onto the ice during a particularly violent hockey game and all the air had been knocked from his lungs. The feeling only lasted a second, before the natural born leader in him took over. He spoke up, his voice falsely confident.

"Look guys, I haven't even got the test results yet. The doctor said he would call this afternoon. Once we know, then we can come up with a plan of action. If it turns out I do have mono, then so be it. Cross that bridge if it happens. I would never dream of asking you to give up any opportunities because of me." The three boys glanced uneasily at each other, then at the floor, anywhere but at Kendall. Finally, James spoke up.

'Too late."

"What do you mean 'too late'? What did you do?" Kendall asked, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch tightly around his shoulders as he started shivering.

"Well… we told Griffin if he replaced you we were walking. There was no way we would finish the album, let alone tour, without you. Gustavo actually backed us up-"

"-huh, guess he doesn't hate me with as much passion as I thought" Kendall interrupted. Logan continued like he hadn't heard him.

"-and it all got a bit heated." Kendall bit his lip, simultaneously overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for his friends, but also annoyance at their blasé attitudes to their own futures in the band.

"What did Griffin say after that?"

"He said we better hope for our own sakes you get better quickly" Carlos chimed in. The four of them sat in silence for a few minutes, before their thoughts were broken by the phone. Kendall stared at it, not wanting to pick it now that he knew the news of the other end could have such a huge impact on not only his own future, but those of his friends as well. After four rings, James finally answered.

"Hello? Uh huh, Ill just get him for you." He passed the phone over to Kendall, who had gone white.

"H-hello. Uh huh. Mmm hmm. Um ok. Ok thanks. Thankyou. Bye." He hung up the phone, his face completely blank.

"Was that the doctor?" Logan asked slowly.

"Uh huh."

"Well…?" Suddenly Kendall's face broke into a huge smile.

"He said the results came back negative. It's just the flu, and as long as I rest up for a couple of days I should be fine within a week." He paused as his friends cheered and hugged him.

"I do really appreciate what you guys did for me with Griffin. But I hope you realise if the news had have been different, we could all be sitting here planning our trip back to Minnesota by now. I want you to promise me, if anything like this ever happens again, you wont give up your own opportunities for my sake."

"But-" James started.

"We can't promise that!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Well I'm not setting foot into that studio again until you promise me" Kendall crossed his arms stubbornly. Logan, always the voice of reason, covered his shoulders back up with the blanket, which had fallen off while he was on the phone, then spoke.

"We can't promise that. But we can promise that from now on we will at least discuss any issues that come up within the band. However, we were friends before we were band and we'll still be friends once this is all over. We need to remember that." Carlos and James nodded, and Kendall smiled.

"Ok, that's fair" he said softly, his eyes closing as he fell asleep on the couch surrounded by his band mates, and, more importantly, his best friends.


End file.
